USS Protostar

Multiple realities

(covers information from several alternate timelines)

"The Protostar, named after the early stage in the formation of a star, powered by it; we designed a ship that could explore the far reaches of our understanding in hope of finding others who share our ideals, so that we may create a stronger alliance."

– Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway, 2384 ("Supernova, Part 2")

The USS Protostar (NX-76884) was a Protostar-class Federation starship launched in 2382. The Protostar was a prototype, which was approved for production into a full ship class after the ship's destruction in 2384 with the USS Prodigy following in 2385. Due to an accidental alteration to the timeline, the Protostar was active for a period of time in late 2384 and early 2385 following its destruction. The Protostar was later sent back in time to correct the timeline, averting a universe destroying temporal paradox.

Service history

Original voyage

The Protostar was launched from the San Francisco Fleet Yards on Stardate 59749.1 under the command of Captain Chakotay for a return mission to the Delta Quadrant undertaken in the years after the return of the USS Voyager. (PRO: "Kobayashi", "Asylum", "Last Flight of the Protostar, Part I") It was equipped with a holographic training advisor known as Hologram Janeway, modeled after Chakotay's former commanding officer, Captain Kathryn Janeway, and holographic projectors in multiple areas of the ship. (PRO: "Lost and Found", et al.)

During the mission, Chakotay sent out a mayday reporting that the Protostar had encountered a temporal anomaly that sent the ship into the future and deposited it over the planet Solum after it had already been decimated by the native Vau N'Akat, a species that blamed the Federation for a catastrophic civil war which devastated their homeworld fifty years after the Federation made first contact with them. Chakotay attempted to send a distress call, but the damaged ship was then stormed by Drednoks and Chakotay was captured alongside his first officer Commander Adreek-Hu on the bridge. (PRO: "Preludes") The crew was held captive for months during which time Chakotay used a tricorder that Adreek had hidden away to send distress calls into the anomaly in the hopes of rescue. Eventually, the entire crew died aside from the captain and the first officer. (PRO: "Who Saves the Saviors", "Last Flight of the Protostar, Part I")

USS Protostar sent back through temporal anomaly — The *Protostar* is sent back through the anomaly

The Vau N'Akat now had control of the Protostar and placed blocks in the ship's main computer to conceal information about its original crew and purpose, partially using the Vau N'Akat language as a passcode encryption. One Drednok also gained access to Chakotay's command authorization codes. (PRO: "Kobayashi", "First Con-tact", "Time Amok") They also placed a weapon called the living construct onboard the ship and hid it in a subdeck under the bridge. The weapon was capable of hijacking Federation ship systems and causing them to "turn on themselves... and tear themselves apart." The Vau N'Akat planned to send the Protostar back through the anomaly and use it as a Trojan horse to deploy the weapon in Federation space and destroy Starfleet before they could make first contact with them. However, this plan went awry when Chakotay and Adreek-Hu escaped on the eve of the launch. Unable to disarm the construct or board the ship to escape, Chakotay remotely sent the crewless Protostar back through the anomaly before the plan could be enacted, and the Protostar was lost in the past. Desperate to find the ship so they could utilize the weapon, a Vau N'Akat organization called "The Order" was founded, and launched the last of their fleet - one hundred agents each with their own Drednok - through the anomaly in search of the Protostar. (PRO: "Dream Catcher", "A Moral Star, Part 2", "Let Sleeping Borg Lie", "Preludes")

By 2366, the lost Protostar was located deep inside of Tars Lamora. One agent known as The Diviner spent many years searching for it, establishing the Tars Lamora prison colony to conduct and finance his efforts. (PRO: "Lost and Found", "Kobayashi")

Altered timeline

Stranded on Ysida

Due to the interference of Dal R'El, Jankom Pog, Zero, and Maj'el, the timeline was accidentally altered at the time of the Protostar's launch into the wormhole in the future. In this altered version of events, Chakotay and Adreek-Hu managed to escape with the ship rather than sending it through the wormhole alone on autopilot, resulting in the destination changing. (PRO: "Who Saves the Saviors")

After arriving in 2374, Chakotay and Adreek ejected the ship's proto-core and antimatter, and marooned themselves on an island on the Class P planet Ysida in order to ensure that the living construct would never reach the Federation. The ship was left with only emergency power cells recharged by degrading solar collectors, although Adreek had a theory that they could refuel the ship using the antimatter in the lightning storms and the deuterium gas in a large maelstrom on the other side of the ocean. When Chakotay refused, broken over the loss of his crew and unwilling to risk the living construct reaching the Federation, Adreek set out to test his theory alone and never returned, leaving Chakotay alone with Hologram Janeway and a nearly powerless ship. (PRO: "Last Flight of the Protostar, Part I", "Last Flight of the Protostar, Part II")

Protostar Found — The *Protostar* found on Ysida.

With the help of Wesley Crusher, Dal, Jankom, Zero, Rok-Tahk, Gwyndala, Murf, and Maj'el found the ship and Chakotay in 2384. By this time, the hull was rusted and the derelict ship had become dilapidated. Shocked to find the state of the ship and its captain, the crew learned of what had transpired from Hologram Janeway and attempted to convince Chakotay to leave with them, without success. After Dal went missing in an ion maelstrom, the crew found Adreek's body and the antimatter that he'd successfully collected from the storms, reigniting Chakotay's spirit. With the assurance that Starfleet would be able to deal with the living construct should the Protostar be sent back to Tars Lamora to fix the universe, Chakotay agreed to use Adreek's plan to get the ship off of the planet. (PRO: "The Devourer of All Things, Part II", "Last Flight of the Protostar, Part I")

Fixing the timeline

Protostar flies again — The *Protostar* flies again

In order to reach the maelstrom with the deuterium needed to refuel the ship, the crew converted the Protostar into a sailing ship that Chakotay dubbed the HMS Protostar. The crew were able to sail the Protostar into the maelstrom and use the Bussard collectors to gather the needed deuterium, restoring both the impulse engines and the warp drive and allowing the Protostar to finally escape from Ysida. However, the USS Voyager-A was 3,000 light years away, meaning that they needed to build a new proto-core for the ship in order to reach it. (PRO: "Last Flight of the Protostar, Part II")

After repairing the ship's dilapidated state, the crew sought out a Class M planet with bosonite ore which could be used to create a new protostar to power the ship. After an encounter with a Klingon scientist and mutated tribbles, the crew was able to get the bosonite and create a new proto-core, restoring the protostar drive. (PRO: "A Tribble Called Quest")

The Protostar was able to make a proto-jump to Voyager's position, but it ruptured the already weakened fabric of the universe, creating an interphasic rift that caught Voyager in its grasp and fractured the vessel into a number of alternate realities. After repairing the rift in the mirror universe, the Protostar's crew arrived on the correct Voyager where Chakotay was finally reunited with Janeway. (PRO: "Cracked Mirror")

Although Janeway agreed to help send the Protostar back in time, Admiral Edward Jellico ordered both ships back to Earth where Voyager's crew would be reassigned and the Department of Temporal Investigations would handle sending the Protostar to the past. (PRO: "Ascension, Part I")

The return to Earth was interrupted when Asencia sent the Rev-1 to destroy Voyager. Needing the Protostar to remain intact to repair the timeline, Janeway allowed Chakotay to return to his ship to protect it, with Chakotay calling upon Dal, Rok, Jankom, Gwyn, Murf, and Zero to return as its crew. However, Zero stayed behind to help an injured Grom to sickbay while Dal took Grom's place flying into battle with Maj'el and Nova Squadron and Gwyn took up the role of acting first officer. While Nova Squadron distracted the Rev-1's drones, the Protostar flew in close to get a weapons lock on the enemy ship for Voyager and later came to Voyager's rescue when the other ship was overwhelmed by the drones despite orders to the contrary. However, the two ships proved to be no match for the Rev-1 and the Protostar was ultimately disabled by an enemy energy drain. Dal and Nova Squadron eventually managed to destroy the enemy ship using the Boothby Supernova, saving both Voyager and the Protostar. When Zero was forced to sacrifice their already-failing physical body to save Voyager from the Incursor, Jankom used the Protostar's vehicle replicator to quickly construct the new upgraded containment suit that Jankom had designed for the Medusan. (PRO: "Ascension, Part I", "Ascension, Part II")

Following the battle, Starfleet Command sent Voyager and the Protostar to Solum to find the source of Asencia's temporal weaponry as they were the closest Federation ships. As the Protostar crew were not technically Starfleet and thus their presence wouldn't risk sparking a war between the Federation and the Vau N'Akat, they went behind enemy lines on Solum, joined by Maj'el who resigned from Nova Squadron in order to be able to join them. Although the crew succeeded in rescuing Ilthuran and Wesley Crusher and beaming them to Voyager, the crew were captured themselves by Asencia's forces. Janeway granted Ilthuran political asylum aboard Voyager and the Protostar. (PRO: "Brink", "Touch of Grey")

Janeway used the Protostar's vehicle replicator to replicate a Vau N'Akat ship using Ilthuran's specifications for a successful rescue mission for the Protostar's young crew. (PRO: "Touch of Grey")

During the Battle of Solum, the Voyager and Protostar crews worked together to send the ship back in time through a wormhole to Tars Lamora in order to close the temporal causality loop and stop the universe from being destroyed by the paradox. After using an old Maquis trick to get close enough to beam the crew to the surface, the Protostar focused on dodging and distracting the enemy ships in orbit while Wesley, Rok, Maj'el and Zero worked to figure out the scientific logistics behind opening the wormhole. Eventually, Asencia was defeated by Gwyn with the help of the Vau N'Akat Uprising and her fleet was destroyed when Dal, Jankom and Murf opened the wormhole. (PRO: "Ouroboros, Part I")

Journey's End — The *Protostar* reaches the past

Although they succeeded in opening the wormhole, the Loom swarmed out of it, threatening the plan. Voyager escorted the Protostar into the wormhole, providing covering fire and allowing the crew to repair the timeline. Once clear of the Loom, Chakotay had The Doctor copy Hologram Janeway's program to an EMH backup module so that she would survive the ship's destruction before her program was reset so that Hologram Janeway would lose her memories. Dal left a combadge on the floor of the bridge where his and Rok's younger selves would find it, and Voyager beamed the crew out. On autopilot, the Protostar completed its journey, landing on Tars Lamora at an unknown point in the past to wait for Dal and his crew to find it. (PRO: "Ouroboros, Part I", "Ouroboros, Part II")

Under the command of Dal R'El and his crew

USS Protostar found — Dal and Rok-Tahk find the *Protostar*

In 2383, the Protostar was accidentally discovered by Dal R'El and Rok-Tahk buried in the Northwest Crevasse within the prison colony. Dal and Rok were joined by Zero, Jankom Pog, Murf and The Diviner's captive daughter Gwyn, reactivating the ship and making a daring escape despite The Diviner and Drednok's attempts to stop them. (PRO: "Lost and Found")

After escaping Tars Lamora, the ship encountered a binary star system and was almost destroyed after being pulled into the gravity well of an orbiting white dwarf that was in the final moments of tearing apart its red giant companion. After finally accepting Hologram Janeway's help, the crew managed to escape. Afterwards, Hologram Janeway trained the Protostar crew in how to properly operate the ship. (PRO: "Starstruck", "Dream Catcher")

Under Hologram Janeway's advisement, the crew continued on to investigate a Class M planet located in the Hirogen system, where the ship was nearly consumed by the cilium-like vegetation that inhabited the planet-like superorganism before nearly being captured by the Diviner. (PRO: "Dream Catcher", "Terror Firma")

They succeeded at escaping the Rev-12 when the ship's protostar drive was engaged, and the ship was hurled nearly 4,000 light years to the Gamma Quadrant in a matter of minutes. Around this time, Murf discovered the ship's holodeck, which included such holoprograms as Andoria IV, Ceti Alpha V skydiving, kal-if-fee gladiator match, Count Dracula, 1885 Deadwood South Dakota, Paxau Resort, Janeway Lambda One, and the Kobayashi Maru scenario. (PRO: "Kobayashi")

The Protostar visited the Cymari homeworld and made first contact with the Cymari. (PRO: "First Con-tact")

The Protostar then flew through a tachyon storm, which fractured the ship into several parallel realities moving at variable speeds and nearly caused a warp core breach. The crew was forced work together across these fractured realities, guided by Hologram Janeway, to make the repairs to restore it to normal time and prevent the ship's destruction. (PRO: "Time Amok")

Eventually, the crew of the Protostar were given an ultimatum by The Diviner that forced them to return to Tars Lamora and surrender the ship in order to save the Unwanted. With only enough power left for one proto-jump, the crew decided to launch a rescue mission to Tars Lamora despite it potentially meaning that they would never be able to reach Federation space. The Diviner double crossed the crew and stranded them on Tars Lamora to die. However, they removed the exotic matter dilithium matrix, preventing the ship from going to proto-warp and allowing the crew to rescue the miners and reclaim the Protostar, stranding The Diviner on Tars Lamora. Now aware of how to recharge the proto-drive, the crew set course for Federation space. (PRO: "A Moral Star, Part 1", "A Moral Star, Part 2")

When the Protostar left from Tars Lamora, its proto-warp signature was detected by the USS Dauntless for the third time. The Dauntless' commander, Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway, used the signals to track the ship, on a rescue mission to find its former captain, Chakotay. (PRO: "A Moral Star, Part 2")

Before traveling to the Federation, the crew embarked upon a series of missions, hoping to amass good deeds to help the Federation look favorably upon them when they arrived in a stolen ship. This included rescuing a female pregnant aquathawn from poachers. (PRO: "Asylum")

Weeks after leaving Tars Lamora, the crew reached the remote Starfleet communication relay station CR-721 where they attempted to seek asylum. Unfortunately, thanks to the living construct weapon, as soon as Lieutenant jg Barniss Frex attempted to upload the Protostar's logs into the station's computer, the computer systems on the station suddenly went haywire, turning its phasers on itself and destroying the station. Frax fled in the station's escape pod while the crew jumped from the station and were picked up by the Protostar's tractor beam. (PRO: "Asylum")

Soon after, Gwyn remembered her father telling her that the weapon's purpose was to destroy Starfleet from within. Though the crew found the weapon hidden in a subdeck on the bridge, they were unable to remove it or deactivate it, even after visiting a dormant Borg cube for more information. (PRO: "Let Sleeping Borg Lie")

The Protostar received a distress call from the shuttle Galileo which had crash landed on Planet 0042692 around a century earlier. Due to the efforts of Ensign David Garrovick of the USS Enterprise to save the locals from a disaster, they had started calling themselves Enderprizians and were suffering from a mysterious sickness which proved to be caused by the crashed shuttle's damaged engines. With most of the crew in danger, Dal enlisted the help of the Enderprizians to fly the Protostar into a cave on the planet to beam them out, having Hologram Janeway holographically changed the bridge to resemble a mid-23rd century Constitution-class starship to make it easier. The Protostar officially made second contact with the Enderprizians on behalf of Starfleet, leaving them with an antidote designed by Zero to treat their illness. (PRO: "All the World's a Stage")

Being chased by the USS Dauntless

The crew traveled to the Denaxi Depot, hoping to bury the Protostar and seek transport to the Federation. Unfortunately, realizing that Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway considered them criminals for stealing the Protostar and destroying the relay station, they unearthed the buried Protostar and fled into the Romulan Neutral Zone, with the Dauntless unable to pursue since entry into the Zone was forbidden. When the Tal Shiar were close to taking control of the ship, Janeway had the Dauntless fire upon it, but ceased the attack after the Romulans were defeated by Murf. (PRO: "Crossroads", "Masquerade")

Using parts recovered from Noble Isle, the crew was able to repair the ship while Janeway learned of their past from the bounty that The Diviner had placed upon them. (PRO: "Preludes")

Destruction

Hologram Janeway fell under the control of the living construct and locked in the crew in the holodeck. Once Dal gave her his command codes, Hologram Janeway set the Protostar on course for the heart of Federation space. (PRO: "Ghost in the Machine")

Later, the Dauntless resumed its pursuit and was able to merge its warp field with the Protostar's. The Dauntless shot several phaser shots at the Protostar, which were unable to penetrate its shield. However, it caused Dal to inadvertently switch consciousness with Janeway while he was trying to establish a telepathic link. The crew took advantage of this to explain to Janeway the truth and the admiral agreed to help them, using her command access to restore Hologram Janeway's program to normal and viewing Chakotay's distress call. Janeway and Dal were able to switch back to their bodies before the Protostar was stopped by a Starfleet armada in the heart of Federation space. (PRO: "Mindwalk")

During this time, Ensign Asencia of the Dauntless revealed herself to be a Vau N'Akat known as "The Vindicator" and boarded the Protostar along with the Diviner. After subduing the crew and killing the Diviner, Ascencia contacted the Dauntless and activated the living construct. The construct was able to infect the Dauntless and the armada, forcing all ships to fire at each other. The Dauntless' universal translators were also taken offline by the construct as it spread to the rest of the armada. Gwyn contacted all non-Federation allies to help, but more and more Starfleet ships showed up and were infected. With no other choice, the Protostar crew abandoned ship in a bare-bones shuttle while Hologram Janeway destroyed the Protostar by detonating the proto-core while traveling at proto-warp at the cost of being destroyed along with the ship. The destruction of the Protostar and the living construct released the Dauntless and the rest of the armada from the construct's control, saving Starfleet. However, the Dauntless was unable to find any sign of the Protostar crew in the aftermath of the explosion. (PRO: "Supernova, Part 1", "Supernova, Part 2")

Legacy

Having escaped from the ship in a bare-bones shuttle, the crew managed to make it to Earth a month later. Starfleet discovered that Hologram Janeway had replicated the parameters logged in the wormhole that the Protostar's original crew had been lost in, thus creating a new wormhole to roughly the same space-time coordinates. Through the wormhole, Starfleet received a second distress call from Chakotay that revealed that he and half of the ship's original crew were still alive, trapped 52 years in the future. In addition, while the Protostar itself was only a prototype, Starfleet approved full production of the Protostar-class. It was later discovered that Chakotay's distress call was sent before the Protostar's launch into the past. (PRO: "Supernova, Part 2", "Into the Breach, Part II")

Starfleet later found the Protostar's black box and salvaged security footage of the ship's launch by Chakotay and Adreek-Hu from it as well as a message from Chakotay to Janeway. (PRO: "Into the Breach, Part II")

Because Rok-Tahk found it easier to think on the Protostar bridge, she created a holoprogram recreation of it to work on the crew's holo-duplicates. (PRO: "Imposter Syndrome")

In 2385, the new Protostar-class was scheduled for decommissioning following the Attack on Mars, as the attack caused Starfleet to focus only on defense and the Protostar-class was only good for exploration. However, Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway was able to get the new USS Prodigy assigned as a Starfleet training ship, crewed by the Protostar's young crew and Maj'el, with Hologram Janeway as the new Emergency Command Hologram. (PRO: "Ouroboros, Part II")

Alternate realities and timelines

In an alternate reality encountered by Chakotay, Dal R'El, Jankom Pog, Rok-Tahk, Gwyndala, Murf, Zero, and Maj'el, the crew of the Protostar failed to stop the living construct and the Federation was destroyed. (PRO: "Cracked Mirror")

In a possible future shown by Wesley Crusher to Asencia, the USS Voyager-A was destroyed by the Incursor with the explosion consuming the nearby Protostar, presumably destroying it as well. (PRO: "Ascension, Part II")